[Canada_Rockies]

You may be referring to this quote by Douglas Adams.

"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."

That's very similar to what I was thinking of but it was actually Billy Connolly

“The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever becoming one.”

He also said

"Don't vote. It just encourages them....”

I agree with both of you/them

[Racer X 69]

The Complete Book Of Bonsai, A Practical Guide To Its Art And Cultivation, by Harry Tomlinson.

A Christmas gift from Mrs. Racer 2.0.

Since I have been growing tropical house plants since I was a teenager, which is very similar, and I have always had an interest in bonsai, she figured a bit of a nudge was in order.

I already have a couple of trees that are ready to start pruning the roots and branches, and training their shapes.

[MJSteele]

Jim Brandenburg Brother Wolf

[SSGGeezer]

Tim Dorsey, "Torpedo Juice" Re-reading it on breaks and when I finish training exercises before some of the others at work. I love having a History buff Serial killer as the protagonist in my Florida stories!

[Racer X 69]

For many years my physician was a nurse practitioner, the very best health professional I have ever entrusted my health care to (she has retired, I miss her very much). She gave me more great advice for my health than any MD I have ever seen, before or after.

I am re-reading a book a she recommended 11 years ago.

The Art Of Racing In The Rain, by Garth Stein, who it turns out is a fellow racer in the regional club I have been racing with since 1989.



The novel isn't about racing, as much as it is about a dog, named Enzo (Ferrari), and his master Denny Swift and his family.

The synopsis from Wikipedia:

The novel follows the story of Denny Swift, a race car driver and customer representative in a Seattle BMW dealership, and his dog Enzo, who believes in the Mongolian legend that a dog who is prepared will be reincarnated in his next life as a human. Enzo sets out to prepare, with The Seattle Times calling his journey "a struggle to hone his humanness, to make sense of the good, the bad and the unthinkable."

Enzo spends most of his days watching and learning from television, gleaning what he can about his owner's greatest passion, race car driving — and relating it to life. Enzo eventually plays a key role in Denny's child-custody battle with his in-laws, and distills his observations of the human condition in the mantra "that which you manifest is before you." Enzo helps Denny throughout his life, through his ups and downs.

A great story, about one of the things we often treasure most in life, our dogs, and how we interact with them.

Highly recommended.

[gifthorse]

Mutineers' Moon by David Weber and I just got a signed copy of Tim Dorsey's latest No Sunscreen for the Dead
A recent trip to the thrift store netted me 61 Hours by Lee Child, Buzzcut by James W. Hall, Enough Rope by Lawrence Block, Wolf Winter by John Connolly, Shotgun Alley by Andrew Klavan and Casino Moon by Peter Blauner. All signed by the authors. I have to go back and pick up a whole stack signed books by Robert Crais

[c.a.m]

I'm reading:

Russell A. Potter, Finding Franklin, McGill-Queen's University Press. This is a fascinating account of those who searched for and found significant pieces of the puzzle of Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition in the Arctic in the 1840s.

I just finished reading:

Gillian Hutchinson, Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror Expedition: Lost and Found, National Maritime Museum Greenwich, Adlard Coles, pub.

The HMS Erebus was found in 2014 and the HMS Terror in 2016, both sunk near King William Island in Canada's Nunavut Territory.

- Craig

[Nakedgun]

Just completed:

"Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl, 1959 (2006), 165 pages.

I'd heard of this influential book for a number of years, finally got myself a copy.

[AggieDad]

Howdy!

I am late to this party, so I will do a quick summary of a few recent books along with today's read. The list is eclectic, to say the least. I never really know what I will pick up next.

I read all my stuff on a Kindle which also puts the books on my iPad and iPhone, so I can always read a few pages any time, anywhere.

MY CURRENT READ
The Mystery of Julia Epicopa – A novel about a woman who is a bishop in the first-century Christian church

RECENT BOOKS

• The Little Paris Bookshop – A totally charming book about a bookseller finding peace and love
  
• Genghis, Birth of an Empire – A potboiler that is first of a series about Genghis Khan
  
• Picture This: How Pictures Work – This is a deceptively simple book that might help remind you of the elements that make an image work
  
• White Trash: The Untold History of Class in America – An interesting look at a little-discussed part of our history
  
• Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics – Stuff to mess with your mind

During 2017 while recovering from some surgeries, I reread the entire Cadfael series (some 20 books) about a 12th-century monk who solves murders and also read LeCarre's Smiley novels once more.

I hope my list isn't too long. But it brings me up to date

[SpecialK]

The City That Grew, by Boyle Workman (1936).

It is a history of Los Angeles, from 1840-1935. It started a collection of a few buildings at what is now the "Olvera Street" tourist trap, had a man-made irrigation ditch managed by an important person, built the Coliseum stadium (1932 Olympics) and new City Hall which used to be the tallest building in the city (now dwarfed by skyscrapers). Lots of important events, both local and national, and people in business, industry and show-business are mentioned.

It was originally published in a series of daily articles in The Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express.

Boyle Workman (1868–1942) knew almost everyone in LA - he started as a clerk working for his father - the mayor, then as a clerk in the Farmers & Merchants Bank, local manager for the Home Mutual Fire Insurance Company, draftsman in the City Engineer's office, Assistant City Treasurer, member of the Public Service Commission, City Council president and member of the Finance Committee, candidate for mayor, owner of the Monarch Brick Company, the fire insurance firm of Garland and Workman, and was vice-president of the American Savings Bank. His father married Maria Boyle whose family owned property in what would become the Boyle Heights area of LA.

It is a hard-cover, signed-by-author version.

[aslyfox]

just picked up at the Truman Historical Center in Independence, MO

" The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World "
by A. J. Baime



" Overview

“[A] well-judged and hugely readable book . . . few are as entertaining.”—Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

“A. J. Baime is a master. His reporting and storytelling are woven to hypnotic effect. This is history and humanity in lush, vivid color.”—Doug Stanton, author of The Odyssey of Echo Company

Heroes are often defined as ordinary characters who get pushed into extraordinary circumstances, and through courage and a dash of luck, cement their place in history. Chosen as FDR’s fourth-term vice president for his well-praised work ethic, good judgment, and lack of enemies, Harry S. Truman was the prototypical ordinary man. That is, until he was shockingly thrust in over his head after FDR’s sudden death. The first four months of Truman’s administration saw the founding of the United Nations, the fall of Berlin, victory at Okinawa, firebombings in Tokyo, the first atomic explosion, the Nazi surrender, the liberation of concentration camps, the mass starvation in Europe, the Potsdam Conference, the controversial decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the surrender of imperial Japan, and finally, the end of World War II and the rise of the Cold War. No other president had ever faced so much in such a short period of time. The Accidental President escorts readers into the situation room with Truman during a tumultuous, history-making 120 days, when the stakes were high and the challenges even higher. "


The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A. J. Baime, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

[timb64]

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling)

[TER-OR]

I finished Eyes to See: The Astonishing Variety of Vision in Nature by Michael Land.
Eyes to See: The Astonishing Variety of Vision in Nature: Michael F. Land: 9780198747710: amazon.com: Books?tag=pentaxforums-20&

Wow. I'll probably need to read it again to fully digest this deceptively small book. Vision is amazing, and there are more kinds of eyes than I knew (with a biology background).

Reading Andy Wier's Artemis now. So far, so good. It's been on my pile for a while, so about time I got to it.

[ryanM]

"Sorrow of War" by Bao Ninh

[lesmore49]

Just finishing up Bernard Cornwell's first non fiction history..." Waterloo, The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles."

Excellent book, riveting.

I just received a book, that I ordered online..." Heretics and Believers, A History of the English Reformation "... by Peter Marshall.

I've become very interested in the English Reformation as I recently discovered that my some of my early Ancestors were English Puritans that immigrated to the Massachusetts colony in the early 1600's.

Also rereading Niall Ferguson's The Great Degeneration, How Institutions Decay and Economies Die. A worthwhile read, even if I'm on my third time around.